Counter-Clockwise
by Yelloweye
Summary: Ed comes back from a mission with a suspicious chemical, which infects the officers at Eastern Headquarters, causing them to age backwards! With no cure in sight, Ed and Al wonder if the officers will ever be normal again.
1. Prolouge

**Hello! I know what your all thinking, "Oh, a new story that Yelloweye's gonna eventually give up on..." I will try to keep it going, and I will try to post as often as possible.**

**Enjoy!**

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Rain pelted the windows, making an annoying pitter-patter noise. Ed was wishing he was at home in bed rather than receiving a briefing or some boring mission. Because of this, Ed wasn't paying attention, rather simply staring out the window of Eastern Headquarters.

Ed was 13. He would be turning 14 in a month. But that was not what ran through his head. What he was thinking about was the annoying sound of how the rain hit the window.

"Did you hear anything I said, Fullmetal?" the bastard Colonel's voice shook him from his head.

"Huh?"

"I take that as a no, then," Colonel Mustang sighed. "I'll put it simply, find Dr. Marks, arrest her, and confiscate anything suspicious. Are we clear?"

"Yeah, whatever. I've got the file, you don't need to explain everything to me," Ed said. He waved the thick file in the air.

"Don't do anything reckless. Don't underestimate Dr. Marks. She subjected innocent people civilians, typically children, to horrendous experiments. She won't hesitate to peel back your skin to find out the source of your stunted height," Mustang said, 100 percent serious. Ed's eye twitched.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HE CAN'T EVEN CLIMB THE STAIRS WITHOUT A LADDER?" Ed screamed his face red with anger.

"You, Fullmetal," Mustang said, smirking. Ed growled and stomped out of the office. Alphonse stood by the door, waiting for him. Ed tossed him the file.

"Let's go; we got a mad scientist to arrest,"

**(A/N: This was originally chapter two, but I decided to merge it with chapter one because standing alone, the first chapter was pretty short)**

Dr. Marks' lab was on the outskirts of the city. There weren't many other structures in the area. Or people for that matter. Ed internally shuttered at the thought of what had happened to them.

The brothers stood on a hill, overlooking the structure. As Edward looked at the building that was supposed to be Dr. Marks' lab, he couldn't help but feel a little disbelieving.

"Al, are you sure this is it?" he asked. Al opened the file and flipped through the file.

"Apparently. See?" he pointed to a blurry picture, taken from very bad angle. The structure matched the picture.

"Yeah, I guess. But I haven't heard of many super-evil genius mad scientists who carry out their evil deeds in a _hot pink barn._" Al shrugged.

Ed began to make his way to the pink barn. The hill was steep, and he tripped a couple of times. Al was having similar problems. Ed was sure that Marks had seen them by now, as the Elrics weren't exactly the most inconspicuous people in Amestris.

They eventually made it to the base of the hill. Ed pressed his ear to the side of the barn. He couldn't hear anything. Based on this, Ed determined it was "safe" to enter. He clapped his hands and put them up to the barn wall. Blue lightning crackled as a nice clean hole formed in the wall.

Ed was aware of the gasp that came from his brother. Ed wore a look of wonder on his features. Despite the outside being a barn and looking pretty childish, the inside looked sleek and sophisticated. Linoleum tiles lined the floor and wall. Various stations and metal tables were placed orderly around the room. Shelves full of chemicals lined the walls, and counters with shiny scalpels and blades stood at various points in the room. A light shone above their heads, reflecting off of the tiles and giving everything a blinding glare.

Finding nothing of interest in this room, the brothers made their way into an adjoining room, this one slightly less neat and organized. It looked as if someone had wanted to pack up and get out quickly. Bottles full of suspicious looking contents rolled across the floor. Papers were strewn across the room. An empty bottle of vodka lay on its side at a desk. A trash bin was filled with empty alcohol bottles as well.

"So Dr. Marks was a heavy drinker," Al noted.

"It looks like she found out about the military coming after her and ran," Ed muttered, collecting up papers after a brief glance at each of them. "She's been gone a long time; there's dust everywhere."

"She was studying de-aging techniques, brother," Al said, skimming a couple pages of research.

"I'm not surprised, Al. She's what, 67? Based on her I.D. picture from twenty years ago, she was pretty old looking. I shudder to think what she looks like now," Ed said. He picked up another paper and growled. "Al, she was also studying _chimeras,_"

"We should collect this up and get back to HQ," Al said, sensing Ed was getting ready to break something. Ed grumbled in response before transmuting a large box with wheels out of a wooden table. He and Al spent a good amount of time loading everything in it, there was a lot of stuff in the office and scattered around the lab.

At one point, they had come across a holding cell, but whatever had once been in them was gone. All the doors hung open and were swinging in the breeze that blew through the lab. Claw marks decorated the walls.

"We should go report back," Al said, wheeling the box in front of him. Ed didn't respond; he had a strong feeling that he knew what had been kept in the cells.

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**So, this was originally chapter 1, but I decided to add chapter 2 to it. :)**


	2. And This is Where the Story Starts

**Yes! Chapter 2! This chapter goes out to Featherstone180 for being the very first reviewer! I am trying really hard to get these chapters out as fast as possible before I lose interest in this story and/or access to a working computer (See, I don't actually own a computer...)**

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It was raining again when they arrived back at Head Quarters. Lightning flashed across the sky, thunder following closely after in. When they stumbled through the doors, they were soaking wet. The brothers stumbled up to the Colonel's office.

"Did you succeed in arresting Dr. Marks?" Havoc asked. Ed was in a subdued silence since seeing the lab.

"No, she appeared to have left a long time ago," Al said. Ed walked off to the Colonel's office to give his report, not bothering to say hello to anyone.

"What's his deal?" Breda asked. Al glanced after his brother.

"Dr. Marks was studying _chimeras_," he said. The entire of Mustang's subordinates nodded. That explained everything. A silence settled over the office; no one was quite sure what to say.

"Alphonse, why don't you Dr. Marks' notes down to Colonel Marcus' office. He can look them over and properly dispose of Dr. Marks' research," Hawkeye said. "His office is in the annex across the street," Al nodded, thanked Hawkeye, and left.

The rain had turned to a drizzle, but lightning still flashed across the sky. Al stood under an awning, waiting for the traffic to let up so he could cross the street. He stood next to the entrance to the dining hall kitchens, where the cooks were diligently unloading a truck full of fresh produce and spices.

The light turned red, and as Al stepped forward to cross the street, a burly cook carrying a crate of spices crashed into him and knocked over the box. The bottles of spices and bottles of chemicals rolled together.

"Sorry, sir!" the cook exclaimed, and hurried to collect up the spice bottles, while Al tried to discern the chemical bottles from the spice bottles. Unfortunately, the bottles looked pretty much the same. In the end, Al managed to collect up the chemical filled bottles, but by then, the light had turned green again and traffic had started back up. Al sighed. This was going to be a long day.

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**So, I don't have an actual computer, so if I don't post for a while, that doesn't mean I've abandon the story! If I ever do give up on this, Ruins of the Moon or whatever the hell her name is now will kindly adopt this story! So no matter what, you will eventually see the end of this story, I promise! **


	3. FREEDOM!

**Finally! I kept getting distracted while typing it up, but here it is!**

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Al entered Colonel Marcus' office with the box of research. His office was arranged similarly to Colonel Mustang's, with the desks pushed together and subordinates working furiously on paperwork. A set of doors separated the room of desks from the Colonel's office.

"Um, I'm looking for Colonel Marcus," Al said shyly. A stone faced man with graying hair glanced up, then look back at his paperwork.

"He's in his office," the man muttered.

"Thank you, sir," Al said politely. He wheeled the box to Colonel Marcus' office doors and knocked.

"Come in," a voice said. Al pushed open the door.

Colonel Marcus was not very impressive. He had white hair (though he didn't look especially old,) that went all over the place, and a mustache to match. He was surrounded by more paperwork than Al had seen in his life. His face was covered by large, round glasses and he had a slight double chin. He didn't look up from his paperwork.

Al cleared his none-existent throat.

"Uh, hello, Colonel Marcus. Lieutenant Hawkeye sent me to deliver the research me and my brother confiscated from Dr. Marks' lab." The Colonel didn't acknowledge Al. "So, um, here it is…" The Colonel looked up.

"Dr. Marks, you say?" he asked. He had the voice of one that had smoked for most of their life.

"Yes, sir," Al said. Colonel Marcus grumbled something that Al couldn't hear. The Colonel went back to his paperwork. Al began to feel uncomfortable and pretty foolish standing there.

Suddenly, Colonel Marcus stood up. A stack of papers crashed to the floor. The Colonel cursed but made no move to pick up the paperwork. He pointed at the box.

"Open it up, boy," he commanded, pointing a sausage-like finger at Al.

"Yes, sir," Al said, and lifted the lid. The Colonel marched over and gazed inside at the contents, occasionally muttering to himself as he lifted the bottles out and put them back in. He glanced at Al and adjusted his glasses.

"I'm going to have to send this to Central to get these analyzed," he muttered, more to himself. "You may be on your way,"

"Thank you, sir," Al bowed, trying to show respect, and walked out, leaving the Colonel to continue to mutter to himself. A few of the subordinates glanced at him as he left, but quickly returned to their paperwork as if it was the most important thing.

Al walked down the hallway towards the door. A secretary worked quietly behind her desk near the door. _Everyone seems real serious here, _Al thought to himself.

Al stepped outside. It was pouring down really hard, and Al worried that if he didn't dry off properly when he got back to his and Ed's apartment, he'd rust. Or worse, the rain would wash away his blood seal.

Al sloshed through the puddles, reminiscing of when he and Ed were small and still living in Resembool with their mother. The traffic slowed to a crawl, the rain blinding the drivers. Al edged his way around the cars and entered Eastern HQ's main building.

Al walked through the doors, dripping water everywhere. One of the secretaries wrinkled her nose in disdain at the mess.

"Sorry, ma'am," Al apologized. He made his way back up to Mustang's office. Nothing was very different from when he was there fifteen minutes ago, besides the fact that Ed had finished his report and was lounging on the couch and that there was a new array of bullet holes in the beige painted wall.

"Hey Al," Ed said tiredly.

"Hello, brother," Al replied, sitting down next to Ed on the couch. Al sat in silence, simply watching the clock. The minute hand ticked rapidly around, counting down the minutes to 1800 hours. As soon as the hour hand hit the 6 on the clock, a crash sounded from Mustang's office as he came running out, laughing psycotically.

"I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he yelled as he ran past the desks, earning him a round of bullets from Lieutenant Hawkeye.

"Well, I guess it's time for dinner," Havoc said, stretching.

"What are they serving again?" Breda asked, grabbing his jacket.

"Meatloaf, I believe," Fuery answered, straightening the items on his desk before standing up.

"C'mon Al, let's go down to dinner," Ed said, standing up.

"Okay, brother," They went with the rest of the Mustang crew down to dinner. They were going through the lobby, where Major Hughes met up with them.

"I'm guessing that screaming blue-and-black blur was Roy?" Hughes asked.

"Yup," Ed confirmed. They reached the dining hall, where meatloaf was indeed that night's meal. Many of the other officers had already arrived. Ed grabbed a plate and piled it high with food, then dove in with gusto.

Dinner happened without much disturbance. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, but the ordinary dinner was what would mark the beginning of a strange turn of events.

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**Okay, probably not my best chapter. I was working pretty hard to get it done. **

**Has anyone ever heard Dance With the Devil by Breaking Benjamin? I love that song. I got it on my ipod and listened to it over and over and over, then I went on youtube and watched the FMA AMV for it over and over. I love Breaking Benjamin!**


	4. A Pleasant Surprise

_**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**_

Falman hit the off switch on his alarm clock. He had been lying awake in bed for the past hour. The meatloaf from the previous night hadn't really agreed with him, leaving Falman like he was going to be sick well past midnight. Sunlight filtered through the blinds and danced across the floor.

Falman rolled out of bed and dragged himself to the bathroom to get ready. He took a brief shower, got dressed, washed his face, shaved, and brushed his teeth. It was the same routine every morning. He was combing his hair when he noticed something. Something was with his hair.

It wasn't very noticeable, but a few small bits of black hair were visible in Falman's gray hair. It was like when one's hair begins to turn gray, but reversed; Falman's hair was blackening to the shade of ebony that he had in his youth. Falman let out a whoop of joy. The day suddenly seemed a lot brighter.

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**The mayhem has begun! Sorry it's so short, but there wasn't really much to write. **

**I probably would have posted this yesterday, but due to unforseen events, I was unable to. I really appreciate the reviews I've been getting, and I'm sorry if the last chapter was kind of boring. It was really just meant to be a filler, and as far as fillers go, it probably wasn't the most exciting. I wish I could have added more Hughes. **


	5. Food Poisoning

Ed was not having a good night. For the past three hours since the sun had completely set, he had spend crouched in front of the toilet, barfing out his innards. Al kneeled next next to him, patting him on the back.

"Gah…" Ed moaned during a pause in his being sick. "I shouldn't have eaten that-" he choked and resumed being sick. "-meatloaf," His face was the color of old, congealed oatmeal. He threw up again.

"That's it, brother. Better out than in," Al said, knowing that if he had had a flesh body, he'd be right next to Ed in front of the toilet, being sick. This was one of the few times that he was glad that he was a suit of armor, unable to contract diseases and get food poisoning.

"I…hate…life…" Ed gasped, and fell over on his back.

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**Sorry its taken me so long to update. I was hit by a car a few days ago while riding my bike, and I've been contemplating the meaning of life. Also, sorry this was so short. You'll notice that it appears that a chapter is missing. Don't worry ;) I've just merged chapters 1 and 2 together, so you don't need to re-read anything. **


	6. Missed Assignments and Cows

**There. 1,432 words, all for my lovely viewers. Enjoy! ;D**

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Sun ripped through the trees at Eastern Headquarters. Ed walked into Mustang's office to receive his next mission briefing. It had been exactly one week since Ed and Al had confiscated Dr. Marks's research, and half a week since Ed had recovered from the awful case of food poisoning. Every border patrol and outpost had been told about Dr. Marks, and the country was on high alert for the rouge scientist. Mustang had boasted that they'd have her rounded up within a month.

Ed felt like crap. Insomnia had found its way into Ed's life, and the shadows under his eyes were not the most attractive thing in the world. He dragged himself slowly through the streets of East City. Sometimes Ed hated his job, like how it made him wake up at ungodly hours.

East City HQ loomed in front of Ed, and not for the first time he considered turning around and marching right back to his and Al's apartment. Al wasn't with him today. He had found out about a volunteer-run animal shelter being built and he had run off to help. Once cute kittens became involved, Alphonse Elric was unshakable. Ed wished his brother was with him. Al usually could keep him from killing the Colonel.

Ed sighed as he walked under the arch. Eastern HQ had recently been repainted, and the glare coming on it was like that white nothingness that surrounds you before you reach the gate. The smell of paint fumes wafted around the building, choking Ed and making him feel like he was going to throw up. Everything was shining too brightly, and Ed felt hot and sweaty under all his clothes. His auto-mail felt unrealistically heavy.

So when he walked into the cold marble lobby, Ed had to restrain himself for pressing his face against the tile floor. He wiped his sweat soaked forehead, wondering how he possibly got so sweaty during the half-mile walk from his apartment to Eastern HQ. Ed gave a polite wave to one of the secretaries as he passed by. He marched up the stairs to the Colonel's office, stopping to get a cup of coffee from the lounge, attempting to give him an energy boost before he entered the gates of hell.

He reached the office, the coffee doing nothing to wake him up. The office was a flurry of activity. Everyone ran around, paper flying as if caught in a storm.

"How did we miss the deadline?" Havoc screamed.

"God help us!" Breda howled, scribbling and slamming a stamp down on documents.

The office was sent into a fresh flurry of panic when a round of bullets echoed throughout the office and eight fresh, smoking holes decorated the wall that separated the Colonel's office from the group of desks that belonged to his subordinates. Fuery sat at his desk, surrounded by papers, looking close to tears.

"Er-what's going on?" Ed asked.

"We missed a deadline!" Falman yelled over the commotion, the usually calm man looking a bit panicked himself. Another round of bullets echoed as the door to Mustang's office was flung open and the black haired Colonel came barreling out, arms shielding his head from the gun-wielding demon pursuing him.

"HELP ME!" Mustang screamed as he took off down the hallway.

"GET BACK HERE!" Lt. Hawkeye yelled, reloading her gun. She looked a bit hassled herself. Her hair was a mess and her uniform was wrinkled.

"YOU'LL NEVER GET ME ALIVE!" Ed stuck his head into the hall in time to see Mustang acrobatically jump off the landing, the Lieutenant right behind him.

"THEN I'LL HAVE TO GET YOU DEAD, COLONEL SIR!" Hawkeye screamed, her voice coming from far off.

"Should I come back later?" Ed asked, gesturing to the chaos around of him. Havoc had somehow managed to get a thumbtack impaled in his earlobe. Fuery had fainted under the pressure of finishing the documents. Breda was freaking out because Black Hayate had jumped on his desk. Falman was cursing himself.

"Why did I not remember that those papers were due? WHY!? WHY, O CRUEL SPIRITS FROM ABOVE?" No one paid Ed any attention.

"Hello? I have an assignment I need to be briefed on! Can I at least have the file?" Under these circumstances, Ed would usually go home and catch a few Zs, but Mustang had mentioned that this could be a new lead on the Philosopher's Stone, and Ed wanted to get going as quick as possible.

"Hey, HEY!" Ed shouted.

"SHUT UP, BEANSPROUT!" Havoc yelled. Something inside Ed snapped.

"I'M. NOT. SHORT!" Ed screamed, joining the fray. He clapped his hands and put them to the wall. A fist burst out and punched Havoc in the face. More papers flew into the air. Ed swung wildly at Havoc.

It was utter chaos. Files and papers covered the floors. Ed got his file in the end, but he was pretty sure that some pages were missing from it. He didn't complain; he supposed that's what he got for turning the office into a war zone.

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Ed met up with Al at the train station. Cat fur clung to Al's waist cloth and a distinct mewling emitted from the inside of Al's armor. Ed wasn't in the mood to argue about cats hitching a ride on Al, so he ignored it.

"Are you all right, big brother?" Al asked. It was as if Ed had a big, dark storm cloud hanging over his head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What of it?" Ed snapped. They boarded the train and found their seats.

"You seem to be in one of those moods you get in when someone calls you 'short'," Al said.

"I'm not short," Ed grumbled, staring out the window at the crowd of people boarding and leaving the train.

"Of course not," Al muttered. The kitten inside his armor mewed. The two brothers sat in silence as a man walked down the aisle checking everyone's tickets. The whistle sounded and a voice called, "All aboard!" as the train began to move forward.

Once Ed had calmed down a little and the storm cloud of anger and hate had dissipated, he opened the file. Because Breda had thrown the file, all the papers were messed up, and Ed noticed sheepishly that he had accidentally taken a few of those important documents that were to be turned in.

"Woops," he muttered.

"Lt. Hawkeye won't be amused, brother," Al said.

"That's why she doesn't find out, and if she does, blame it on the Colonel and run like hell," Ed replied, stuffing the papers in the back of the file. Ed glanced at the information on his assignment.

"It looks like we'll be heading to this small town down south. It's called Dunoon," Ed said.

"But, brother, didn't we go to Dunoon last year?" Al asked. Ed frowned as he read it over.

"Yeah…maybe something relating to the Philosopher's stone has turned up there again." Al nodded. The countryside rolled by outside the train, the landscaped dotted with farms and cows and other farm animals. But there were a lot of cows. Al had to yank Ed back into his seat when he flung open the window and screamed, "RUN, MY BOVINE FRIENDS! RUN! DON'T LET THEM MILK YOU!" That was really embarrassing for Al. Everyone on the train was giving Ed funny looks.

This was going to be a long trip.

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**So, I was not happy with this chapter, or a lot of the story for that matter, so I'm going back and fixing a bunch of it. Do any of you people out there have any sugestions? If you do, I want to make this story better, so let me know. **

**I have no idea why I added the train gang part. I woke up the next morning and was like "What was I thinking?"**

**So school starts in a little less than a week. :( Did I mention that school and I do not get along? I hate school work, its so pointless. I'm not even kidding. I HATE SCHOOL. IT MAKES ME STRESSED OUT AND THEN I DON'T HAVE THE ENERGY TO DO ANYTHING BUT SIT ON THE COUCH AND WATCH TV. **

**See you next time!**

**~Yelloweye**


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